Chapter 26

His finger was enveloped by the warm mouth, and the strange sensation caused by the rough tongue scraping over it made Zhong Nian shudder involuntarily.

Ke Zhengchu crouched on the ground, eating his finger, looking no different from a little dog.

Zhong Nian was stunned for a moment before he reacted and immediately resisted.

He couldn’t free his wrist, and his finger moved instinctively. Unintentionally, he poked somewhere, and he heard Ke Zhengchu let out a low hum.

Zhong Nian feared he had scraped the inside of his mouth and stopped in fright for an instant. Unexpectedly, the person in front of him took his finger even deeper, showing no sign of discomfort at all.

For some inexplicable reason, Zhong Nian felt a chill run down his spine. He used all his strength to pull his hand back, and at the end, he even felt that tongue reluctantly curl around his fingertip once more.

“Zhengchu, what are you doing?” Zhong Nian looked at his finger, now covered in saliva, and couldn’t help but click his tongue, frowning. “You’re so dirty.”

Hearing the undisguised disgust in his last words, Ke Zhengchu’s breathing grew slightly erratic. A flush rose on his pale face as he said in a low, husky voice, “There was chocolate. You said we can’t waste it…”

“That doesn’t mean you can lick my hand like a little dog.” Zhong Nian felt somewhat helpless toward Ke Zhengchu’s occasional abnormal thought processes.

But Ke Zhengchu was a good roommate, so Zhong Nian chose to tolerate his oddities.

“Don’t lick hands casually in the future. There are bacteria.” Zhong Nian refused his attempt to tug at his sleeve to wipe it off. He got out of bed to wash it clean, even using some cleaning solution.

“What I meant by not wasting is the food. It’s fine to wash it off your hand. Only kids lick their fingers after eating. It’s unhygienic. In the future, you…”

Zhong Nian taught him very seriously.

Ke Zhengchu followed behind him, staring unblinkingly at the fingers rubbing against each other covered in foam. His gaze shifted to those red lips opening and closing, and he secretly swallowed.

“Did you hear what I said?” Zhong Nian wiped the water droplets from his hands and looked at the distracted Ke Zhengchu through the mirror.

Ke Zhengchu: “I heard… What about licking something else?”

“What do you mean ‘something else’? Don’t tell me you like licking bowls too?” Zhong Nian was shocked.

Ke Zhengchu shook his head.

“Then that’s fine…” Zhong Nian breathed a sigh of relief and turned to leave, inevitably brushing against Ke Zhengchu.

As he tried to squeeze past, he suddenly tensed up like an alert little animal. He twitched his nose, sniffing the air, then zeroed in on Ke Zhengchu.

He grabbed Ke Zhengchu’s collar and yanked it open. Noticing the other’s intent to dodge, he pressed his other hand on the shoulder and said in a deep voice, “Don’t move.”

“Little Nian…”

Ke Zhengchu’s hot breath hit Zhong Nian’s ear, but Zhong Nian was oblivious, staring intently at the gauze wrapped around his shoulder.

“What is this?”

The moment he met Zhong Nian’s gaze, the heat surging in Ke Zhengchu’s abdomen burned even fiercer. His Adam’s apple bobbed, but he couldn’t speak.

“I’ve seen it, and I smell blood.” Zhong Nian’s look held worry mixed with a hint of reproach, as if asking how he could get injured again in just one day.

Ke Zhengchu’s heart burned under that gaze. “It wasn’t intentional. There was a little accident…”

“What kind of accident wounds you here?” Zhong Nian couldn’t help but overthink, his expression changing slightly. “It wasn’t that gang who did this to you, was it?”

Ke Zhengchu shook his head. “I wasn’t paying attention while working. When I stood up, my shoulder accidentally scraped the corner of the window.”

“Let me see.” Zhong Nian didn’t think he could handle his own wound properly and moved to pull off his clothes to check.

Ke Zhengchu stood rigidly still.

After unbinding the bandage, the injury was a bit more serious than Zhong Nian had imagined. It had been handled sloppily, seemingly wrapped up without any medicine.

Zhong Nian furrowed his brows tightly at the sight and dragged him out of the bathroom to treat it properly.

“The one on your hand just healed, and now you’ve injured yourself again. I don’t know whether to scold you for being careless or pity you for being unlucky.”

Having treated Ke Zhengchu’s wounds many times, Zhong Nian was now much more skilled at applying medicine. It took less than five minutes to finish.

As he was about to wrap the bandage, Ke Zhengchu suddenly said, “It hurts.”

Zhong Nian didn’t even look up. “If it hurts, endure it a bit. It’ll be done soon.”

“…”

Ke Zhengchu stayed quiet for a moment, then said weakly, “Blow on it.”

Zhong Nian paused his bandaging and glanced at Ke Zhengchu in surprise. “I’m almost done wrapping it.”

Ke Zhengchu’s eyes shifted to the side and down, his head lowering a bit. His voice was so small it was almost inaudible. “Okay.”

Though he hadn’t said it, the word “disappointed” was practically written on his face, impossible to ignore.

Zhong Nian paused for a moment, tied off the bandage, then blew “hoo hoo” twice on his shoulder.

When he looked up again, the previously downcast face now seemed to have color and life.

Zhong Nian couldn’t help but chuckle. “Blowing on it works that well?”

Though his expression didn’t show it clearly, Zhong Nian knew Ke Zhengchu was happy.

“Mm, thanks, Little Nian.”

Afterward, Zhong Nian instructed Ke Zhengchu to finish the doughnuts, to wipe down instead of showering to avoid water, and to be careful with his sleeping position so as not to press on the shoulder wound.

It wasn’t too late, and though he hadn’t done much work that day, sleepiness quickly washed over him.

Zhong Nian fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

–

In the early hours of the morning.

On the cruise ship, only the gang’s own people could move about freely. Everyone else was either locked up under unified guard or confined to their rooms.

A large number of passengers had paid their ransoms and earned the right to return to their rooms, but the doors were forbidden from being closed and had to remain open twenty-four hours for surveillance.

Everyone harbored resentment but dared not speak out, especially after witnessing a certain kidnapper’s cruel and ruthless methods that evening…

Clutching their unease, even back in their rooms, they found it hard to sleep.

In their hazy state, they heard familiar boots stepping outside, jolting them awake in an instant.

“How’s it going?”

“They’re all behaving, Second Brother.”

“Good. Then I’ll leave tonight to you. I’m heading to a meeting. Call me if anyone causes trouble.”

“Got it, Second Brother!”

After giving the instructions, Zhan Lu walked along while pulling out a small notebook and pen from his jacket’s inner pocket.

Under the eye-catching “Doughnuts 3.0” was the specific recipe, detailing ingredient amounts and preparation methods. At the bottom of the page was a crooked Q-version cartoon drawing.

A little figure in a Bunny Boy uniform hugged a doughnut and munched on it, with a round face, big eyes, and a bubble next to his head containing a little heart.

“How about trying blueberry? Not sure if he’d like it…” he muttered to himself as he began creating the “Doughnuts 4.0” recipe.

After jotting it down quickly, he hummed an unknown tune, quickening his steps. He soon arrived at his destination.

But it wasn’t a meeting spot—it was a certain employee’s dormitory in the Crew Dormitory.

There was a rule that crew dormitories could be closed at night but not locked, so Zhan Lu effortlessly twisted the doorknob open.

He looked straight toward a certain bed. In the darkness, he discerned more than one shadow there, narrowing his eyes as a sharp glint flashed in them.

“Little Ke, sneaking into someone’s bed in the middle of the night again? I never knew you had this fetish on top of self-harm?” His voice was very low, not enough to wake the person sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Ke Zhengchu heard his voice but didn’t budge, maintaining his position crouched by the bed, his face at an extremely close distance where he could almost touch it, pressed against the hand placed outside the covers.

Zhan Lu, with his sharp hearing, knew this guy was sniffing Zhong Nian’s hand.

Unable to stand it any longer, he stepped forward to grab Ke Zhengchu’s collar. A cold gleam flashed before his eyes, and he retreated with lightning speed.

But his movements weren’t faster than that cold gleam.

“Rip!”

The sound of fabric tearing echoed in the room.

Zhan Lu glanced at the wound on his upper arm, then at the dagger in Ke Zhengchu’s hand, and sneered.

“I kindly called you for a meeting, and this is how you thank me?”

Ke Zhengchu had no patience for his sanctimonious excuses. He flicked the blood off the dagger and bent down to press his face toward Zhong Nian’s neck again.

Seeing this, Zhan Lu’s forehead vein throbbed, nearly laughing in anger. “Do you believe I won’t expose your true face to Little Nian?”

Ke Zhengchu’s thin lips pressed into a straight line. He turned his head and stared darkly at Zhan Lu, enunciating each word: “Do you want to die?”